


The Grieving Habits of Live Poets

by I_Am_The_Circle



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loss, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 20:59:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6723253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_The_Circle/pseuds/I_Am_The_Circle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys all react to Neil's death in their own ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Grieving Habits of Live Poets

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, this is the first piece I've published in a long time. Hope you like it.
> 
> Thanks to anderperrry on tumblr for encouraging me to post some stuff.

Charlie responds with defiance, which surprises no one  
He won't stop Todd from screaming, he won't sing the hymns  
He sure as hell won't stand by and listen to Cameron's lies  
He won't give up Keating's teachings, he won't abandon the decisions he'd made  
Nuwanda responds with defiance, and he won't give up

Knox responds with confusion, and shocked tears he can neither stop nor express  
He gazes off into space while disbelief combats the truth  
His voice is choked, his eyes distant,  
His mind free of Chris Noel for the first time in months,  
He thinks of the impossibility of a boy so very alive suddenly gone  
Knox responds with confusion and utter disbelief

Steven responds with contemplation, and his hindsight is clear as day  
He reviews the signs they all missed and analyzes the sources of error  
His jaw is clenched, his brow is knit,  
His eyes troubled behind frames that were no assistance in seeing the things that mattered  
Steven responds with contemplation of his errors, and for the first time he has failed

Gerard responds with silence, no yawps of grief and loss  
He speaks even less than usual, foregoing communication  
He doesn't ask his friends what they could have done better,  
Because he knows they are all thinking the same things  
Gerard responds with silence, because his thoughts are radio static

Richard responds with blame, as some predicted he would  
He returns to the rule book when in doubt  
And believes the designated scapegoat appointed by the officials he respects  
He ceases secret meetings and ignores life lessons,  
Choosing instead to follow what the textbook suggests  
Richard responds with blame, conditioned by years of submission to conformity

Todd responds with intensity rarely seen before  
He screams his yawp of pure grief into the morning snow,  
Begging and pleading and making excuses, louder than they've ever heard him  
He observes the beauty of the morning and is sickened by its irony  
He screams his words for the first time, desperate for them to change the world  
Todd responds with intensity but is met only with snow


End file.
